Benchmarks continue firm trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks added gains to continue firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiments were on optimistic mood from the early trade after rating agency CRISIL forecasted that stable government post-elections will help economy grow at an average of 6.5% for the next five years. Traders were seen piling positions in Oil & Gas, Capital Goods and Consumer Durables stocks while selling was witnessed in FMCG, Metal and Power sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals was trading in red after it lost appeal to invalidate Abbott Labs’ Tarka patent. Tata Power Company was trading firm after the company’s rights issue has been oversubscribed 1.96 times, wherein it collected an amount of Rs 3916.41 crore on application. The markets may remain volatile in the near future as traders roll over positions in the Futures & Options (F&O) segment from the near month i.e. April 2014 month series to next month i.e. May 2014 series. The April 2014 F&O contracts expire on Wednesday i.e. April 23, 2014. The stock market remains closed on Thursday i.e. April 24, 2014, on account of Parliamentary elections in Mumbai constituency.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading on a mixed note while the European markets were trading in green. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 6,800 and 22,800 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1450:1233 while 110 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 22,802.72, up by 37.89 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 22,853.03 and 22,746.16. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.29%, while Small cap index was up by 0.34%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.46%, Capital Goods up by 1.40%, Consumer Durable up by 0.80%, PSU up by 0.60% and Bankex up by 0.52% while, FMCG down by 0.56%, Metal down by 0.43%, Power down by 0.33%, IT down by 0.32% and TECK down by 0.26% were the losing indices on BSE.   

The top gainers on the Sensex were L&T up by 1.88%, Gail India up by 1.62%, RIL up by 1.47%, HDFC Bank up by 1.31% and ONGC up by 1.18%. On the flip side, SSLT down by 3.07%, Wipro down by 1.97%, NTPC down by 1.00%, ITC down by 0.85% and Infosys down by 0.83% were the top losers on the index.

Meanwhile, in order to boost the growth of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector, the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC), a state owned enterprise controlled by the Ministry of Commerce, will offer direct factoring facility for MSMEs sector. Factoring is a cash management tool under which an enterprise or business person sells accounts receivable at a discount to a third party funding agency to raise capital.

The ECGC has planned to introduce direct factoring facility service in the second quarter of the current financial year, which would help small enterprises to meet their working capital requirements without approaching banks. The ECGC had already launched a new country-risk rating for the benefit of MSMEs.

It has become imperative for India to boost the MSME sector which contributes around 8% of the country's GDP, 45% of the manufactured output and provides employment to over 8 crore people. Meanwhile, the government has been taking various measures to boost the sector’s growth and has increased Budget allocation for the sector to Rs 24,000 crore in the 12th Five-Year Plan from Rs 11,000 crore in the previous five-plan period. The government has also set up a six-member inter-ministerial panel, which will suggest measures to boost the MSME exports.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,827.05, up by 9.40 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 6,838.00 and 6,808.80. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 declining ones on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were BPCL up by 4.19%, Lupin up 2.19%, L&T up by 2.03%, GAIL up by 1.66% and Reliance Industries up by 1.47%. On the flip side, SSLT down by 3.03%, Wipro down by 2.05%, Jindal Steel down by 1.97%, PNB down by 1.27% and IndusInd Bank down by 1.24% were the major losers on the index.

Most of Asian equity indices were trading on a mixed note; Nikkei 225 down by 0.85%, Jakarta Composite down by 0.23%, Hang Seng down by 0.13% while, and Shanghai Composite added 0.34%, Straits Times was up by 0.50% and Taiwan Weighted gained 0.26%.

The European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC 40 was up 0.62%, Germany’s DAX added 1.06% and UK’s FTSE 100 gained 0.87%.